The Shadows of Twilight
by DragonFlySpy
Summary: A What if story. Bella Swan is a Daughter of Pluto. Self admittedly paranoid, she is not happy to find out that the place she just moved, Forks, Washington, is inhabited by a family of vampires she's sure would like nothing more than to sink their fangs into her.
1. Chapter 1

About three things I was absolutely sure: first, on top of being a stalker and all around creeper, Edward was a vampire. And there was a part of him (with my luck probably a very large part of him) that thirsted for my blood. And thirdly, it was because of him I was in this entire mess.

I had always figured I would die young in some horrible nasty way. Being a daughter of Hades tends to make you a rather large target for a rather long list of people. But today would not be the day.

I stared at the hunter from across the room, where he eyed me pleasantly. I smirked. You can't kill the Ghost Queen…


	2. Chapter 1: Arrival

**I don't own anything.**

I unhooked the handle of my rolling suit case. I was going to Forks today. I snorted. Forks: a gloomy town on the Olympic peninsula in North Washington state that existed under a near constant cover of clouds and rain. In fact, it rains more in Forks than any other town in America.

It was in this town, as dismal as it was, that my mother had met my father, Pluto, god of the Dead; all of the Gods, by the way, are real. They move around following the heart of the West, and currently resided on the 600th floor of the Empire State building. All of the myths are true as well, including the ones about the gods having children with humans. The result being people like me. My mom's brother, Charlie has insisted that she stay with him in Forks until I was born. He knew I was a demigod. He was worried that his hair-brained (and I say that in the most loving way possible, but it was true) sister wouldn't be able to handle losing my father and being pregnant with me all on her own. So she stayed.

We didn't leave until I was two, when a Cyclops tried to kidnap me. Monsters, all of the ones from the Roman and Greek myths and legends, don't like demigods. I suppose it was a warranted hatred seeing as we had a habit of killing them and they couldn't really die. Getting stabbed, turned to dust, and reforming for all eternity was bound to make anyone cranky. We moved to Pheonix, and that summer I went to First Legion, the camp for Demigods. I passed the test given to me by Lupa, the immortal wolf mother who raised Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, and earned my place as one of her cubs.

Uncle Charlie and I were not extremely close. I saw him on holidays, and sometimes on mom's birthday, but that was it. However I would be staying with him in Forks while my mom and her new husband, Phil, a minor league baseball player, traveled. I would miss my mother, but I could see it hurt her to have stay home with me, while Phil left for days, even weeks at a time. So Uncle Charlie and I came up with this alternative.

"Bella," mom said, for what must have been the millionth time, "You know you don't have to do this." Mom looks nothing like me, with her short, light brown hair and big brown eyes. My hair is black and my eyes are a very dark grey. She once told me I looked like my father.

I tried not to worry. Phil was here now, I reminded myself. He would make sure the bills were paid, there was food in the fridge, gas in the car, and someone to call when she got lost, but still…I had been doing all those things for so long that it felt like I was abandoning her. Which I guess, I sort of was. But it was for her own good, really. I idly fingered the thick iron skull ring on my left index finger. It had been left for me by my father before he left.

"I want to go mom. It's better this way, really. I can start over somewhere new, and you can travel with Phil. It'll be fine, don't worry," I said with a convincing smile.

Mom sighed, pushing a hand through her hair "I don't mind staying Bella, really-"

"Yes you do mom, but it doesn't. I want you to be happy, and I have no problem living with Charlie for a year or two, until I can live on my own." I slipped on my thick leather jacket, "I'll be fine."

She shook her head sadly, "I'm the mother, not you. You shouldn't have to-"

"I want to go mom. It's a fresh start. A chance to get away from the rumors and and bad reputation, you know?" I pointed out. I didn't really _want_ to go…but it was an opportunity to get away from the people who thought I was, "Dangerous, crazy, and volatile. Keep your kids away from that one!".

She paused for a moment, looking at me intently. Finally it seemed like she accepted my arguments, "If you need anything don't hesitate to call. I can be on a plane within the hour. And you know you can come home whenever you like."

"Mom!" I cut her off. "I'll be fine really, I love you," I tried to smile convincingly.

"I know, I know, you're my tough little girl, and I love you too," she hugged me tightly for a moment. "Are you sure you want to shadow travel all the way there? Phil and I could always drive you."

Shadow traveling was my main form of transportation, and a major factor in my fighting style. It was the ability to jump from shadow to shadow, and travel though them at incredible speeds. At first only a couple of miles would cause me to pass out, but at camp part of our survival training (or as the campers called it How-To-Not-Be-Eaten 101) was to become familiar with our abilities, powers passed on by our godly parents, and learn how to use them effectively and without straining ourselves.

"I'm sure. It's not difficult, I'll be fine," I answered. I liked shadow traveling. It was exhilarating. And Phoenix to Forks was not the farthest I had traveled…not that she knew that. She didn't know much about anything to do with the not human half of me, and that was the way I liked it. It kept her happy to think that camp was a safe and fluffy place filled with magic and talking animals. In a way it was. You were safe from the outside world, but not the campers within. And Lupa and her wolf pack could talk—after a fashion—they just sort of…ate you if you weren't good enough. I tugged on the elbow length fingerless gloves I always wore. She had never seen the claw marks on my arm, or the tattoos that were burned into my skin.

"Ok honey, if you're sure," she said thickly, rubbing her eyes. I looked away uncomfortably. I didn't like it when people cried. "Be safe…oh!" she exclaimed, quickly rummaging through her purse, after a few moments she dug out a small scrap of paper, an address scribbled on the front.

"Here are the directions to Charlie's house! I almost forgot!" she handed me the rumpled paper and I jammed it in my pocket trying not to think about what would happen if she had. I probably would have ended up wandering around for hours in the pouring rain, until someone called the police on me for loitering. That would have been hysterical. Charlie was the Chief of police in Forks, imagine his face when he showed up to remove some drenched hobo only to find his niece.

"I will mom, love you," I repeated, zipping up my jacket. She nodded and stood back.

I focused on the shadow of the car, and gripped the handle of my suit case tightly. I shouldered my duffle bag that had been sitting at my feet, before running as hard as I could, passing seamlessly into the shadows. Immediately I was submerged in a world of a million shades of black. Every figure, every city, every tiny blade of grass was visible, but blurred from the speed I was traveling.

Five minutes later I left the shadows. I wasn't even out of breath. It was all about endurance and practice.

I looked around. I was on the edge of town, standing next to a sign that said WELCOME TO FORKS! in thick black letters. I glanced down at the paper, glad to find step by step instructions to my Uncle's house. Perfect. I ran into the shadows again, following the steps written in Mom's minute hand writing. I stepped out of the inky darkness a few moments later, on Uncle Charlie's doorstep. I didn't worry about mortals (some would call them "normal" people) seeing me because the mist would make sure no one saw anything. The mist is a magical substance that lets mortals see only what they can understand. So instead of me popping out of nowhere, they might see me walking up the drive way, and figure they must have not seen me walking up the street.

I knocked loudly on the door and waited for Charlie to answer. I raised an eye brow; sitting in the drive way was an orange truck that looked like it was from the sixties or fifties. It was one of those thick metal ones that you saw sitting pretty, the paint not even scratched surrounded by the remains of some foreign sports car that had run a red light. A few moments later Charlie threw the door open and pulled me into an awkward and second long hug.

"It's good to see you Bells," he said, taking my suit case, "Is this all your stuff?" he asked surprised. I nodded shrugging. Most of my clothes were too permeable for Forks, so mom and I had pooled our resources to supplement my winter wardrobe. (The fact that I didn't get as cold as easily as most, something to do with my dad being Pluto apparently, helped quite a bit).

"It's good to see you too, Uncle Charlie, Mom says hi," I added. He nodded absentmindedly, leading me up the stairs.

"Good, how is Renee?" he asked.

"She's great, she's on her way to Albuquerque right now," I responded.

"Good, good…well here it is," he pushed open the door to what I assumed to be my room. It was…pleasant. It was the same it had been when I used to live here, with light blue walls, yellow lace curtains and wooden floors. The only additions were an adult bed and a desk where my mom's old second-hand computer sat. Í knew that if I opened the curtains I would have a lovely view of the front yard.

Charlie stood in the door way, watching me anxiously.

"Do you like it?" he asked, "I kept everything the same, except for the bed of course. You were a tiny little thing, not so much now."

"It's perfect Uncle Charlie, I love it," I smiled, trying to re-assure him. He nodded to himself before speaking.

"I found a good car for you," he began casually. I raised an eyebrow. A good car for me and a good car in general were two very different things. I appreciated it; I knew practically nothing about cars and was glad he had actually taken the time to do that for me.

"What kind of car?" I asked, my mind going back to the orange Chevy in the drive way.

"It's a truck actually, a Chevy," he answered.

"Awesome, how much is it?" I asked.

"Actually I already bought it. It's the truck in the drive way," he answered.

I grinned widely, looking out the window to get a better look at the vehicle, "I love it, thank you so much, you didn't have to do that though, I could have bought my own car," I said, admiring my new truck.

"It's a welcome present. Besides, I got it cheap. You remember Billy Black down on the reservation?" Charlie asked. I thought for a moment before nodding. I remembered his son at least, the kid had followed me everywhere.

"Well the truck was his; he's in a wheel chair now and can't drive, so he offered to sell it to me," Uncle Charlie explained.

"Please tell him I said thank you, and that I love it next time you see him," I said, still looking at the orange beast. It definitely had nick-name possibilities.

"Will do…I'm going to go start dinner. It should be ready in about an hour," he said, clapping his hands and rubbing them together, "Just holler if you need anything," he turned and left the room, leaving me to my thoughts.

I slipped off my jacket, and set it on the bed before unpacking. It only took about fifteen minutes, I didn't exactly have a load of stuff. I grabbed my bag of bathroom necessities and set them in one of the empty drawers in the small bathroom I now shared with my uncle. I tried not to dwell on that. Walking back I decided to hang up the one poster I had brought with me. It was of Green Day, not my favorite band, but it had been a gift (and an olive branch) from Phil.(I was violently protective of my mother and had been rather cold to him for a while. I think I scared him a bit at first actually…) I filled the small book shelf in the corner with my even smaller collection of books, most on Roman Mythology, and most in Latin. I preferred to read in Latin, English gave me a head ache. Finding nothing else to do, I went to the bathroom and cleaned up, brushing the knots out of my long black hair before pulling it back up into a tight pony tail.

I went back to my room and fingered my skull ring. In one swift movement I twisted it off and flipped it. The ring flashed and extended into a two and a half foot gladuis sword. I spun it in my hand, slashing at the air. Thoughts of school tomorrow filled my mind and I frowned.

Forks high had a total of three hundred and fifty seven, now three hundred and fifty eight students. There were seven hundred people in my junior class alone back home. Here all of the kids had grown up together—even their grandparents had been toddlers together.

I would think of it as a challenge, I decided. I would see how big of an impact I made and see how quickly I could find a place where no attention would be called to me and to wait out the school year. I thought of my new task. Blending in wouldn't be easy. I stuck out quite a bit even at normal highschool, but here it would be worse. I would be gawked at for a while, like an ipod given to a child that only played with blocks, but eventually they would lose interest. I was academically average, sometimes even below average since I had trouble paying attention. I was good at sports and P.E, but that was about it. I wasn't a big people person (the living ones anyway) so I was mostly a loner. I often came across as morbid, and sometimes unnecessarily sarcastic and standoffish.

I flipped my sword back into a ring. It was made of stygian iron, a demigod metal usually used to form weapons for the children of the dead. Unlike the other metals that we used to make weapons like imperial gold and celestial bronze, stygian iron was capable of killing both monsters and mortals. Also, while the other metals would turn monsters to dust, stygian iron, since it was from the Underworld, would absorb their life force and destroy them.

Yes, I thought while heading down for dinner, I would fade into the background and no one would notice me, no monsters would attack, and I would absolutely not be involved in my usual mythical mayhem. It was a battle plan.

Dinner was a quiet affair, consisting of toast and eggs, and rather uncomfortable small talk. I cleaned my plate and said good night before going upstairs. I set out clothes for tomorrow and got ready for bed. Hopefully nothing would attack me in my sleep.

**Please review! Bella's outfit for her first day of school can be found on my profile :)**


	3. Chapter 2: Of Things To Be Expected

Breakfast the next morning was very quiet. I had woken up at five, startled into consciousness by a nightmare that I couldn't even remember. I had decided actually care what I looked like. My hair was straightened and down (something that would not last through P.E.) and I had smudged on mascara and lip gloss. After gulping down a glass of juice I stood up, and tugged on my leather jacket.

"Bye Uncle Charlie," I called over my shoulder, picking up my back pack and pulling the truck keys off of the key rack.

"Have a good day and good luck!" he yelled back.

I ran straight to my truck, and quickly unlocked it, bowing my head in the rain. The truck started right away, roaring loudly. I grinned in approval. Experimentally I tried the radio. It worked, an added bonus I had not expected.

Forks High was not hard to find. Like most things in Forks, it was right off the highway. And the giant sign proclaiming in loud yellow letters, FORKS HIGHSCHOOL certainly helped. The school looked like a clump of houses, all made of identical maroon bricks. It certainly lacked the feel of a prison that my old school had; it was filled with trees and shrubs, and lacked metal detectors, which I liked. When they ran my ring through the x-ray thing it always came up as a sword, which always lead to awkward questions.

I parked my truck and made a mad dash for the office. Inside the building it was warm and bright. It was small, with plush little folding chairs and the typical flecked carpet. Flyers were tacked on the walls, crammed between motivational posters, and the floor was filled with little plastic plants in little plastic pots. A counter cut the room in half, behind which there were three desks. I walked over to the receptionist, a smiling woman with bright red hair and sparkly glasses.

"Can I help you?" she asked, looking up from the form she was filling out.

"Yeah, I'm Isabella Swan…" I informed her, not liking the immediate reorganization in her eyes. Either she was thinking "The flighty chief's sister's daughter with the unknown father has come to Forks" or "Demigod! Yummy!"

Personally I preferred the first, as derogatory as it was.

"Of course," she said, before turning and digging through a precariously stacked pile of papers. She gave me a class schedule and walked me through my classes, even highlighting the map to show the best routes. Finally she gave me a slip of paper that all my teachers had to sign, wished me luck, and sent me on my merry way. Well it would have been merry, if it wasn't pouring rain and lightning hadn't crackled ominously in the distance. I didn't like lightning, it had been shot at me one too many times, especially by Jason son of Jupiter. It was safe to say we did not get along.

I ran back to my truck and climbed inside, turning the heat on. I decided to wait until closer to when school started to begin my hunt for home room. I sat and watched the flow of traffic into the parking lot. Most of the cars were older, like mine. The nicest car was a shiny Volvo that stood out from the rest.

Deciding it was time to go; I cut the engine and hopped out. Hopefully nothing would bite. I really didn't want to get kicked out on my first day.

Room three was easy to find. Like most things in this town it was labeled. I quickly followed a couple of rain-coat blobs into the class room. It was a lot smaller than what I was used to. The people in front of me stopped and hung up their rain coats. I mimicked them before walking over to the teacher. He was a short, fat, and balding man with a name tag on his desk that read Mr. Mason. I handed him the paper and asked him to sign it, twisting my skull ring nervously when his eyes widened and he looked me up and down. After all, how could the police chief's niece look like such a trouble maker? Or he was planning on when to eat me. Either one was perfectly plausible.

He sent me to a desk in the back of the room. You would think that this would make me harder to stare at, but apparently not. I scanned the reading list Mr. Mason had handed me and scowled. Bronte, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Faulkner. Books that I didn't have copied of in Latin. Reading these would be a long and painful process.

I zoned out as the teacher droned on, only snapping out of my thoughts when the bell rang and a gangly boy with bad skin and hair nearly as black as mine leaned into the aisle to talk to me.

"You're Isabella Swan right?" he asked. He seemed like the overly helpful chess club type.

"Yeah, just Bella though," I corrected, trying to ignore the fact that everyone within a three seat radius was staring at me.

"What's your next class?" he asked. I raised an eyebrow. Not even a name? This kid was very…eager.

I didn't need to check my list; I had spent all class period staring at it.

"Government with Jefferson in building six," I answered.

"I'm heading towards building four, If you want me to show you the way…" and still no name.

There was nowhere to look without meeting curious eyes.

"I'm Eric," he added, almost as an afterthought. At least he remembered eventually.

I smiled, trying to think of a polite way to decline…I failed. "Sure, thanks," I replied.

We got our jackets and left, me holding my bag over my head in an attempt to keep dry. I really needed to invest in a jacket that had a hood.

I could have sworn the people behind me were close enough to eavesdrop. Or sink their claws into my neck.

"So this is a lot different than Phoenix isn't it?" Eric asked. I raised my eyebrows.

"How did you know I was from Phoenix?" I asked.

He had the grace to look slightly abashed.

"My mom talked to Chief Swan a couple days ago. She works at the market," he explained hurriedly. I nodded.

"Yeah, it's a lot different…there's a lot more water that's for sure," I replied.

"It doesn't rain much there, does it?" he asked.

"No, only three or four times a year," I answered distractedly as one of the people behind me got closer.

"Wow, what must that be like?" he wondered.

"Sunny," I answered shortly.

We walked past the cafeteria in silence, around the south buildings, by the gym, and finally to the class room. I wondered if it was really necessary to put so much space between all of the buildings. Eric walked me right to the door, even though it was clearly marked.

"Well good luck," he said as I gripped the handle, "Maybe we have some classes together."

Oh gods no. I fixed a smile on my face, and went inside.

The rest of the morning passed in much the same fashion. I was the new girl, and there for interesting.

The only teacher that made me introduce myself to the class was Mr. Varner, my trigonometry teacher. I did so quickly and made my way to the back of the class.

After two classes I was able to recognize several re-occurring faces. They were mostly the ones who were brave enough to approach me and introduce themselves. They would always ask me about Forks and how I liked it. I tried to be diplomatic about my answers, saying things like "It's a lot different than Phoenix," and mostly people were satisfied.

One girl sat next to me in both Spanish and trig and walked me to the cafeteria. She was a few inches shorter than my height of five feet four inches, but made up for that with several inches of wildly curly black hair, and a big mouth. I couldn't remember her name so I just stood there while she prattled on about teachers, classes, and the dismal town they resided in.

She sat me down at a table with six of her friends, and Eric from English waved at me from across the room. I glanced around. That's when I first saw them.

They didn't look anything alike. Of the three boys, one was big — muscled like a son of Mars, with dark, curly hair**. **Another was taller, leaner, but still muscular, and honey blond. The last was lanky, less bulky, with untidy, bronze-colored hair. He was more boyish than the others, who looked like they could be in college, or even teachers here rather than students. The girls were opposites. The tall one was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the kind that only the most favored daughters of Venus had, the kind that made every girl around her take a hit on her self-esteem just by being in the same room. Her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back. The short girl was pixie-like, thin in the extreme, with small features. Her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction.

And yet, they were all exactly alike. Every one of them was chalky pale, the palest of all the students living in this sunless town. They also had dark shadows under those eyes — purplish, bruise-like shadows. As if they were all suffering from a sleepless night, or almost done recovering from a broken nose; though their noses, all their features really, were straight, perfect, angular.

But all this was not why I couldn't look away.

I stared because their faces, so different, so similar, were all devastatingly beautiful. They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine.

They weren't human. Not in the slightest. It wasn't apparent enough for the mortals to notice, but I saw it. But why hadn't they attacked yet? Or were they friendly? I bit my lip and looked away, deep in thought. I needed to be ready for an attack at any time. I glanced over again. The short one stood up fluidly and in a step that belonged on a runway, walked over to the trash can and dumped her completely uneaten tray, before gliding out of the room far too fast. The others at the table sat absolutely still, in a way that most living creatures couldn't. I paused for a moment. Living creatures. I glanced down at the table and concentrated, feeling the life flickering inside everybody in the room. Except for them. They weren't alive. I looked up once more. No movement. Time to check the gossip mill.

"Who are they?" I asked the girl from my Spanish class, nodding towards the walking dead.

"Oh…" her tone of voice changed and the entire table seemed to stop talking and turn to listen. She looked at them and the bronze haired one looked back. He looked at my neighbor for a second before I felt his eyes on me. I looked back challengingly, arching an eyebrow. He seemed surprised at my boldness for a moment, and looked away faster than humanly possible.

My neighbor giggled, looking down at the table.

"That's Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale, the one who left was Alice Cullen," she explained.

I glanced sideways at them, the bronze-haired one seemed to be speaking to the others, his lips barely open and moving at lightning speed.

Strange, unpopular names, I thought. Something you would expect a grandmother or grandfather to have. But then again since they apparently weren't alive who knows how old they could be.

"They are very…nice looking," I prompted…Jessica. That was her name.

"Yes!" she giggled, "They're all together though, and they, like, live together," she said scandalously. I raised an eyebrow and pretended to act properly horrified.

"Really? Which ones are the Cullens? They don't look related…" I asked.

"Oh they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, like in his twenties or thirties. They're all adopted. Rosalie and Jasper are twins, the blond ones," she gestured with her fork, "They're foster children," she explained, happy to have a new audience for old gossip.

"They look kind of old to be foster children!" I exclaimed, playing her for information.

"They are! They're like eighteen now," she stirred her salad, "but they've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that."

"That was nice of them, to take in all those kids when they were so young and everything," I said, watching them out of the corner of my eye. From the way they moved I guessed they were extremely strong and fast. The corner of the one with reddish brown hair's mouth twitched. Super hearing was probably a safe bet too.

"I guess so," Jessica admitted reluctantly, I got the feeling she didn't like the Doctor or his kids, from the look she just threw them I would guess jealousy was the reason for that.

"I don't think Mrs. Cullen can have kids though," she said firmly, as if this lessoned her kindness. I rolled my eyes. The Cullens stared at the wall, not moving and not eating. But then again why would the dead need to eat?

"Have they always lived here?" I asked.

"No," she said in a tone that stated it should be obvious even to a newbie like me, "they moved here like two years ago from Alaska or something," she put her fork down.

"Which one is the one with reddish brown hair?" I asked, referring to the one who had been staring at me earlier. I glanced up, he was looking at me again, with a frustrated expression on his face. I stuck my tongue out and he blinked for a moment surprised, before looking away.

Jessica had watched the whole thing in amazement; I had probably broken some huge social law by actually interacting with THE CULLENS, cue lightning and dramatic music.

"That's Edward Cullen. He's gorgeous of course, but he doesn't date. So don't waste your time. Apparently none of the girls here are good looking enough for him," she sniffed bitterly.

I snorted and watched as they all stood up. They were all so graceful, even the big brawny one. It was unsettling. I pulled my ring off my finger and gripped it tightly. Edward didn't look at me again, and they left the cafeteria. I slipped the ring back on.

I sat next to Jessica and her friends longer than I would have if I had been alone. I didn't want to be late on my first day of classes. Finally we left and I walked with one of my new acquaintances who had to constantly remind me her name was Angela. She was shy and had Biology II with me.

When we entered the class room Angela headed to the back of the room with a small wave and sat at one of the black-topped lab tables that were apparently uniform for every school in the U.S.

I looked around, searching for someone without a partner. There was only one, Edward Cullen. I sighed and walked over, planning to introduce myself to keep up appearances, sliding my ring off and clutching it into my fist. He looked up at me, mildly curious before his face shifted at a million miles an hour. He suddenly looked hostile, furious. I looked back at him, challengingly, waiting for him to make the first move. He wasn't breathing, and his eyes were pitch black.

He didn't move. I slowly stepped forward, and set down my bag down, fighting all of my instincts to pop out my sword and chop his head off. I headed up to Mr. Banner, the teacher, and handed him the paper which he signed with no nonsense about introductions. We would get along just fine. I walked back to the desk, glaring right back. I sat down next to him preparing to move in a moment notice. Drop into the shadows, land on the other side of the room, extend my sword and hopefully impale him when he lunged.

I watched him out of the corner of my eye, and frowned. He was leaning away from me, on the edge of his chair, his chair pushed as far away from me as possible. I kept my muscles tensed. What was he doing? I took notes, careful to keep one eye on him, and glad I had already studied cellular anatomy. I could see his left hand on his knee, clenched into a fist. Like me, he never relaxed. His skin looked rock hard.

I would confront him after class, maybe in a deserted hallway or something. I bit my lip. Uncle Charlie wouldn't approve, he always told me not to pick fights and avoid the situation if at all possible. But I figured it was better sooner rather than later, and better away from the other students as possible. He was glaring at me again. I set my pen down and turned to look at him, glaring back.

"Is there a problem?" I asked sharply. He seemed surprised for a moment before turning away, his hand still clenched.

"Not answering? You've been glaring at me the entire time, what's your problem?" I demanded. He didn't answer, just kept looking ahead. I huffed and rolled my eyes before continuing my notes. At that moment the bell rang and Edward jumped up and practically ran out of the room, fast. Too fast. He was out before the rest of us even left our seats. I stood up and jammed my stuff into my bag fully intending on briskly walking in a hurried manner after him (because running would be suspicious) but a male voice cut into my plans.

"Aren't you Isabella Swan?"

I looked up. A boy with a baby-face, his pale blond hair carefully gelled into orderly spikes was smiling at me in a friendly way. He was cute, I suppose.

"Yeah, just Bella though," I answered, trying to keep the defeat out of my voice. I had lost him by now.

"I'm Mike."

"Hi Mike."

"Do you need help finding your next class?" he asked eagerly. I nearly groaned, this school seemed to be filled with the over eager types.

"It's gym, I think I can find it," I said, trying to get away.

"That's my next class too!" he said excitedly, like the chances of that happening in a school this small were impossible.

We walked to class together; he supplied most of the conversation. As it turned out he had lived in San Diego, California when he was younger, and I mentioned I spent my summers there. He was thrilled by this, and began to ask me about San Francisco. Oddly enough he was probably the nicest person I had met today. He changed the topic abruptly as we entered the gym.

"So, did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that," he asked.

I laughed, "Maybe I should have! I don't know. He was just glaring at me. He was doing the same thing during lunch too. I've never even talked to him before." Mike was officially ok. Unless he was a monster, and trying to get my guard down so he could brutally murder me and scatter my remains around the school, and hang my head on the flag pole…

"He's a weird guy," Mike said, lingering by me instead of heading to the dressing rooms.

"No kidding," I snorted.

He grinned, "If I was lucky enough to sit by you, I would have talked to you."

I smiled at him, trying to stop the ridiculous blush that I knew was turning my face a bright shade of red and headed up to the teacher.

The gym teacher, Coach Clapp, found me a uniform but said I should sit out the class so she could work out exactly where to place me. So I sat out four volley ball games running simultaneously, wishing I was playing. Having been in, what was essentially, Military camp since I was two, I was in rather good shape. Pair that with extremely good hand eye coordination and being extremely competitive I usually won, or was on the winning team in any physical activity.

Finally the bell rang and I left, making my way to the office. I was surprised by Edward already standing at the receptionist's desk already. I stepped forward to where I could listen, pretending to examine a flyer for the track team. He was arguing with her in a low and, even I had to admit, attractive voice. He was trying to switch sixth period biology II with another time, any other time. I frowned, if he was planning on attacking then he would be trying to get as close as possible and have as much alone time as possible, to have as few witnesses as possible when he did attack.

Aside from apparently not being very good at being a monster he was intelligent. At human or maybe even above human, who knew? Suddenly the door opened, icy wind gushed in causing my hair to swirl around my face. Edward stiffened, his entire back seizing up. He turned to look at me, his face startlingly beautiful, and his eyes dark and piercing with hate. I glared back my mind being kicked into overdrive. So they had super smell as well. It was safe to assume they had super eye sight, probably all their senses were enhanced.

"Never mind, I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much," he said to the lady behind the desk in an overly formal and polite tone. He left hurriedly and I re-arranged my face into a smile as I walked over to the receptionist.

"How was your day, dear?" she asked as I handed her the paper all my teachers had signed.

"Great," I answered cheerfully. She smiled back and I waved as I walked back to my truck. It was almost the last car in the lot. I sat there, watching the rain on the wind shield and waiting for the car to heat up just thinking. My old challenge had been replaced and a single face had taken over my mind. Edward Cullen. I grabbed my note book and a pen out of my bag and began to write. I paused my pen centimeters from the paper. It was best to write in Latin in case anyone found it.

_E.C._

_-dead_

_-Unnaturally beautiful_

_-enhances senses_

_-unnaturally graceful_

_-Doesn't eat_

_-hates my guts_

_The C. Family all have black eyes, despite hair colors ranging from black to blond. They are all crazily beautiful, don't eat, and are dead. R.H. and J.H. are twins, and Mrs. Cullen is their Aunt. They are foster kids. Dr. and Mrs. C adopted A.C, Ew.C., and Et.C., however only Ew.C. seemed to enjoy glaring at me. He acts nothing like a proper monster; he tries to get away from me rather than trying to get me alone so he can kill/eat me. _

I closed the note book and tucked the pen behind my ear. This was puzzling. I put the truck into gear and drove home, the matter of the Cullens weighing heavily on my mind.


End file.
